Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Can I tell you how much resin beads are my new best friend? We met at Bead & Button, thanks to Judy from Natural Touch Beads. They are warm, the texture is delightfully matte, the colors are luminous and remind me of beach glass. They are lightweight, durable and create the perfect mix with any type of art bead. Resin, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

You may remember a while back I put out a call for our new monthly Design Team Challenge. Here are the amazing results from our first round.

I sent each of our designers my Autumn Wildflowers Pendant and a set of Willow Disk Beads. Their creations are so unique and I'm thrilled to see how different each designer highlighted the pendant.

Jen Judd

Jen Judd - "For this necklace I wanted to include leather, which I love for texture and the casual influence, so I went with a two strand design. The orangy-red leather brings out the subtle color of the Humblebead pendant. Plus, I added to the centerpiece with another art bead pendant from Kristie Roeder's Artisan Clay. The main component of the other strand is some gorgeous Red Creek Jasper from Dakota Stones. I love the way its organic look works in concert with your handmade pretties."

"I've been in 'set' mode lately, so there's also a multi-strand bracelet and a little pair of earrings that complete the look."

Lori Anderson

Lori Anderson - Her design used kyanite, aquamarine, and carnelian along with silver. I love how the delicate flowers of the chain enhance the wildflower pendant.

Erin Prais-Hintz

Erin Prais-Hintz - I was inspired by the pendant that Heather sent. I imagined that these are like the billowy grasses that are along the waysides throughout the state. Wherever you drive, country roads or highways, you see these grasses and wild plants waving in the breeze. I called this main necklace "By the Wayside" from that inspiration.

And the blue ones were so pretty that they need a design on their own. The branches against a bright blue sky reminded me of the limbs of the trees by the Wisconsin River in the winter, starkly outlined against the sky. And "Frost on the Blooms" was born.

Cindy Wimmer

Cindy Wimmer - "I had fun trying out some newly-learned skills from my workshop with Richard Salley. I etched a copper 'frame'/backing for the focal and even created a toggle from copper sheet using a stamp I found in a similar pattern used in the disk beads."

Lorelei Eurto

Lorelei Eurto - "I was so excited to finally get to work with one of Heather's new painted floral pendants. I was following her blog posts about the inspiration behind these, and the different patterning on each of the beads she had been working, really spoke to me. The texture is subtle, and the coloring especially on this oval pendant, was soft and earthy. I love the coordinating beads that she sent as well.

I knew right away that I wanted to use some suede lace, and creating the long wire wrapped lace sections was something that I was just playing around with. Adding in some pretty orange aventurine, and some burgundy buri seeds really makes the colors in the pendant pop. Brass wire, wire wrapping the links together accentuates the vintage flair of the piece, overall. "

Monday, June 28, 2010

Each Monday the Art Bead Scene features the Designer of the Week. One of our editors picks her favorite from the Monthly Challenge entries. This week's featured designer is Beth Hemmila from Hint!

ABS editor Heather Powers had this to say about Beth's creation, "I love that Beth choose a symbol that wasn't in the painting but embodied the fiery spirit of the dancer. It's a beautifully constructed piece focusing on the orange hues of the painting. There is a fluid motion to the necklace that also reminds me of the dance."

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Oopss! Sorry I'm a bit late posting this morning - The Teen graduated from high school! Here's a quick snapshot of us after graduation - I'm wearing my "Smokey Blues" necklace from my last Studio Saturday! Enough about me, it's all about the links! Without further adieu, let's see what's going on in the Bead Blogging world....

A Bead A Day
Let's have a Tiki party! Lisa found Tiki beads at Big Lots for $1.00 and is looking for ideas!

About.com Jewelry Making
Thinking of selling on-line but worried about the cost? Tammy has discovered three freebie sites for selling your jewelry, crafts, and vintage items.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Welcome to Studio Saturday! Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard. The following week we choose a random winner.

Please send Shannon an email with your address so she can ship this package out to you.

Before Bead & Button I did a series on my blog called 23 Days of Inspiration where I shared the story behind some of my favorite beads. I mentioned at the time I was working on a new collection of beads inspired by Gustav Klimt's paintings of Birch Trees. He visited the theme of birch trees in several different paintings, but the one pictured here is my favorite.

So my first beads in this series were literally a little birch tree trunk. I love faux bois (fake wood) patterns and this one worked out exactly as I had pictured in my mind. You know how hard that can be sometimes!

Another version of the birch tree trunk.

Disk beads in the color palette and pattern of Gustav's painting.

These 6-hole spacers were adapted from a few older canes that were on my table and I just happened to notice that they fit perfectly with the painting when paired together. (Canes are the long tubes of clay, layered into patterns & designs, that are sliced off into paper thin selections and applied to the base bead.)

These bezel pendants were made with the same pattern, on the back side is an etched brass bezel. Love them!

Here is peek of a necklace I created with one of the little tree trunks! You can see a few more photos of jewelry using my new beads later today on my blog.

Okay, so now we need the million dollar question - What season is your muse? I have to say mine is mostly fall with summer a close second.

One comment will be randomly drawn next Saturday to win this set of teal birch disk beads. Have a great weekend!

Friday, June 25, 2010

This week I thought I'd give you a little help with this month's ABS challenge, which may have some of you stumped for ideas. Although all the colors of the painting aren't here, I did find some interesting beads that remind me of tulle or lace that would be under the main dancer's dress. Like those lampwork glass beads from Sarah Hornick- look at the detailing, don't they look like waves of tulle!? I tried thinking outside the box for you!! I hope you enjoy this week's Friday Finds. Click the above picture and it will take you to the treasury at Etsy.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

AlaCarte Wire & Clasps have teamed up with BeadStyle magazine to bring a contest featuring their new chocolate color wire lace. Create a jewelry design featuring their new color of wire lace and you could win $500 from AlaCarte and your design will appear in the January issue of BeadStyle magazine! Deadline is July 15th, so don't delay! Application and complete details can be found here.

At the end of the silver wire make a large simple wire loop. Thread one side of the watch through the loop and wrap the wire loop close, trimming any excess wire.Just above the large loop make a small wire loop. You can go ahead and close this one and trim the wire too.

String on the time bead, making sure the "T" end of the bead goes on the wire first. String a silver ball, three seed beads and then the watch. You can decide which way you would like the watch face going. You might need to twist the wire loop to get the face to lie flat. After the watch is on the wire, string three seed beads, a silver ball, red saturn, silver ball, three seed beads, a silver ball, and then the word "Flies". This time make sure the "F" goes onto the wire first. Double check before going any further that the words can be read the right way when your necklace is on.

Cut two 10" pieces of beading wire. Just above the end of the wire secure one of the crimp beads. String a silver bead, a disc, a silver ball, and 14 seed beads. Send the end of the wire through the small loop at the bottom of the watch face. Continue stringing on the same wire with 7 seed beads. Next string a silver ball, a disc, a silver ball, green saturn, silver ball, and then crimp. Secure the crimp and trim off any excess beading wire.

For the second tassel, crimp one end of the beading wire and then string a silver ball, a disc, a silver ball, a red saturn, a silver ball and 10 seed beads. Send the end of the wire through the bottom wire loop again. Continue by stringing 8 seed beads, a silver ball, a disc, and another silver ball. Crimp the wire after the last bead and trim the excess.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Each Monday we feature the Designer of the Week. One of our editors pick their favorite from the Monthly Challenge entries. This week's featured designer isMalin de Koning !

ABS editor Shannon LeVart had this to say about Malin's entry for this week's challenge: "You may think me biased here. You may think all you need to do is name something Shannon and I will call it my favorite, but you are incorrect! I scanned the entries for this week noting something I like about each piece, bookmarking them in the order of my preference. But this piece pulled at my heart strings before I saw my own components included in its lay-out, before I saw it carried my name sake.

It quite simply made me feel like dancing. Yes, I wanted to put a big pink flower in my hair and with bosoms heaving, do some fancy foot work for the entertainment of a crowd with proper posture.

The painting by Lautrec contains rich, deep colors that contrast with the swirling pink of the dancers skirt. I feel Malin studied these colors intently in order to include so many of them in her bracelet and the way she evolved the almond blossom beads from March's challenge into a new purpose for this months challenge was invigorating!"

Sunday, June 20, 2010

About.com Jewelry Making
If you are selling your jewelry on-line or thinking about it, then you'll find some of these rescources very helpful.

Art Bead Scene
The June Monthly Challenge is a painting by Toulouse-Lautrec.

Beading Arts
Do you like Chinese food? Do you like jewelry...?

Carmi's Art/Life World
A button get's glammed up with tear drop rhinestones.

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva
Cindy touts one of her favorite colors in this week's rewind.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie explores building materials as texture and symbolism in a new set of pendants inspired by a fortress theme

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Lorelei got together for a fun beady date with Kerry Bogert, and together they created a necklace!

Snap Out of It, Jean! There's Beading to be Done!
Jean is fascinated by the beautiful necklace which Jennifer Dangerfield created and reposts her analysis of what makes it so appealing! All jewelry afficionados really must see this lovely piece!

Strands of Beads
Melissa shows off her necklace design that won second place in the Metal Clay category of Bead Dreams 2010.

missficklemedia.com
Come by and visit for a chance to win free Patina-ted Metal Components!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Welcome to Studio Saturday! Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard. The following week we choose a random winner.

This weeks winner is Creativeflutter! Congratulations!
You have won a gorgeous compilation of ceramic pendants from the always generous Lorelei.
Please send Lorelei an email with your address so she can ship this package out to you.

This week we visit Shannon LeVart of missficklemedia.com in one of her studio niches.

Hello Art Bead Scene Friends! I am very excited to finally show off some jewelry that I made from etched metal sheets I created months ago.

I was so gung-ho to added images to copper, brass and nickel sheet metal, but then once I did etch them, they sat unused. Until a few weeks ago. I was finally moved (what was it that gave me the kick in the pants?) to cut them up, hammer the edges, drill the hanging holes and tumble them for strength.

Once I did manage to cut into them, it was just a matter of moving my hands like metal detectors over my piles of findings, seeing what contrasted in color or texture. The text and script etched into the metal seemed to hold secret messages and I thought about things that could not speak but still had stories to tell.
And there........ a new collection was born.

A Message From The Birds

A Message From The Leaves

A Message From The Heart

A Message From Our Homes

It took about 11 hours to assemble all the right components, but time flew by. When I was randomly stamping images onto the metal I had no idea that the end result would be this themed collection. This is a little different then my normal modus operandi of planning, researching, sketching, purchasing, purchasing more just to be safe, creating, stalling, frenzied creating, and finally finishing.

I liked it.

So Dear Readers, I ask of you; do you plan your creations? Or do you fly by the seat of your pants?

Please let me know in comments and your name will be entered to win this necklace;

A Message From The Skies

Thank you for letting me share my new collection with you and for sharing with me your own method of creating.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Oh, here is a reason to hop in the car and head out to Michael's today - Susan Lenart Kazmer has a line of findings and components called Industrial Chic and they are pretty amazing. I've seen some designs online using the components and I'm in love with them! My favorite are these connectors, I need some - now!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

I sometimes feel as if I have been living under a rock. Did you know about all the jewelry making newsletters there are out in cyber land? Because I didn't! There are newsletters that help you sell, that educate you in new techniques, inform you of new findings, and newsletters that inspire you to go forth and create! You sign up and you wake up and there they are shining in your inbox, chock full of info.

Here are a list of my favorites that I subscribe to and links that will take you to the subscriber page;

Since subscribing I've learned of contests that challenged me, sales for items I use regularly and marketing tips that help me sell the jewelry I love to make. I hope you enjoy these beading email newsletters as I do!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Here is a fresh selection of beads and findings to fit my summer mood. I'm imagining a white-washed garden gate, sculptures faded from the summer sun, birds chirping nearby and sweet blossoms popping up in every corner.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Each Monday we feature the Designer of the Week. One of our editors pick their favorite from the Monthly Challenge entries. This week's featured designer is Melissa Meman!

ABS editor Lorelei Eurto had this to say about Melissa's entry for this week's challenge: " As soon as I saw the large pink flower, I was captivated. Once I went in for a closer look and discovered all of the detail, the wire wrapping, and intricate way Melissa put these earrings together, I knew these would be my pick for this week! I adore the color similarities between the Lautrec painting and the earrings. The shape of the petals mimic the dancer's dress and the detailing on the lampwork glass beads is a great correlation to the depth of detail in the painting. It's no surprise to learn that Lautrec is one of Melissa's favorite paintings. These earrings say it all!"

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Welcome to Studio Saturday! Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard. The following week we choose a random winner.

Due to major technical difficulties, the video studio tour that was to be posted, had to be cut out of today's post. I tried most of the day to get it uploaded. Normally I would have used my husbands Macbook to do the video but he forgot to bring the charger home.

I feel like I have a lot going on lately and this weekend, I had my sister and her boyfriend up for the weekend. I finally remembered that I had to do the Studio Saturday post about 2pm. I have wasted away the day fighting with youtube, blogger, the camera, you name it. If I ever get the video to work, I will try to add it to the next studio saturday post that I'll do.

WORKING!! finally!

We were able to sit down and co-design one piece of jewelry. There are a few others in the works but this one actually became a finished piece. Frances pulled out all of the beads, and together we worked on talking about layout, color, size differences in beads, focals and where to put what. Once we agreed on the layout, I put the bracelet together using brass wire, and brass jump rings. It was my idea to add the second strand of chain- I felt like it was a little unfinished with just the beaded strand. I asked her if she wanted a charm, and she at first said no. This seemed weird to me so I added one of my little pewter owl tags just so it felt more finished.

Here is the piece:

Leave a comment on this post answer the questions:

Do you bead with a buddy? How do you become inspired?

Do you look through books and magazines together? Do you bounce ideas off of each

other?

And next week, a random winner will be picked to win the grab bag of beads!